Australian prime minister Julia Gillard will have to play dinner host to three same-sex couples at her official residence in Canberra.
The charity auction, which targeted corporations and business leaders, was won by community advocacy organisation GetUp and and same-sex marriage advocacy group Australian Marriage Equality (AME), which jointly bid AUS$31,000 (US32,715) .
Calling herself a "cultural traditionalist", Gillard is known to be opposed to same-sex marriage.
She was quoted in the Australian Daily Telegraph as saying that her opposition is "because of the way our society is and how we got here... I think that there are some important things from our past that need to continue to be part of our present and part of our future."
However, she is to allow her Australian Labor Party members a conscience vote on the issue at this year's conference.
GetUp has named a lesbian couple as one of the three couples to dine with the PM. Sandy Miller and Louise Bucke are engaged and live in Sydney with their two children from Miller's previous marriage.
"Our youngest often asks us 'Mummies are you going to be engaged forever? Why don't you get married?'," Sandy Miller said. "It has been hard trying to explain that our government won't let us get married and he doesn't understand why everyone else can get married and become a family legally and we can't."
"We don't want to be considered special or better than anyone else, we only want the same rights as every other person and couple in Australia, the right to be legally married," Sandy said in a GetUp statement. "Until the government legally recognises that same sex couples are no different to heterosexual couples and should have the same and equal rights in every area in life including marriage, this discrimination will never end."
GetUp's national director, Simon Sheikh, vowed the six dinner guests would be couples in same-sex relationships "to make the case for marriage equality".
“The face-to-face time with the PM was billed as a ‘unique opportunity for corporate Australia’, but rather than dining with executives and business leaders Julia Gillard will be forced to make the case as to why these couples cannot have their relationships recognised in the same way other Australians do,” GetUp National Director Simon Sheikh said in a statement last week.
According to SX, GetUp and AME were also successful with a bid of $12,100 in winning a meal with three key Independent MPs – Bob Katter, Rob Oakeshott, and Tony Windsor – whose vote will be crucial to the debate.
“All loving couples, regardless of sexual orientation, should have equal access to legal marriage,” Australian Marriage Equality’s Alex Greenwich said. “Our hope is that those same-sex partners attending the dinner will help change the PM’s mind and bring an end to discrimination, so that one day soon their families will have the recognition and respect that other families have.”
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Our world needs more ppl like them who work so hard to be able to get the dinner deal with the prime minister to change the gay future...
I for one would love to be a fly on the wall at the dinner.
Y not invite pope for Mardi Gras dinner one day? hehe
If she allows herself the freedom to not marry, what right does she have to stop others who are in love from doing so?
However, my skills have a price and, as Ireland is buried in a long-term financial crisis, but Australia is not, I reckon she can cough up the cash. G'day, Julia...
The good thing: Julia is an open and proud atheist. There are already plenty of religious nutters blaming natural disasters on her lack of belief.
The bad thing: as a politician she will still likely bow to what she thinks is the majority conservative viewpoint.
We shall see.
Sorry, Julia, shame on you. My English isn't Good but I do not dare to use this word to proclaim myself as a cultural traditionalist if I were you, you better go to church and ask Jesus to punish your SIN because u r living with a man without marriage. Getting fucked by her boyfriend/living partner without marriage is SIN. lol. She is not a right PM for Australia unless Australians want to remain in an old traditional culture (outdated culture). Please open her eyes to take a look at other western countries. GAYS have the right to live without your personal judgement and abuse. Any laws that discriminate base on gender or sexual orientation should be removed. She is a female, traditional speaking, a man should be a PM, not a female. Right? Julia. You should resign and be a traditional woman, take care of your husband and be a house wife. Be a good girl, waiting for your husband every night to produce babies. Then u r 100% cultural traditionalist. lol lol lol
And "cultural traditionalist"? It wasn't til fairly recently that the world accepted mixed race marriages. Prior to that it was considered very NON-traditionalist!!! Yet nowadays, mixed race marriages are so common place that people don't even think about it.
The Australian PM will not bow down to any minority pressure. Look at how she refused to meet the Dalai Lama because of China's economic and diplomatic pressure.
Well done to Getup for trying though. Better to try and have a chance of success than not try at all. After all, as the Chinese saying goes - the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. I look forward to hearing how the dinner went too!
just wondering if the money could have been better spent on supporting some politician parties or figures that support the cause instead?
"Look at how she refused to meet the Dalai Lama because of China's economic and diplomatic pressure."
Thanks for letting us know this shocking news. Let me share you my news. How Canadian government loves, treats and hates Chinese communist? Here we gave China a BIG Fuck !!!! Perhaps our sex was too good, we are still having good relationship. lol Sex is always good to build relationship. Julia. Learn from gay, you will know.....
"Dalai Lama granted honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006." Wasn't it cool? Australians, please change your female Chinese DOG, shame shame shame.
Come one, she scared of China? lol Chinese cock is not very big, oh perhaps........ Well, guys, need your imagination please. lol Sorry to be so rude to her. For me, she has to stand up for her own country, Australia is Australia, has nothing to do with China. If she is not dare to face China in Australia, be China PM then, lol Dalai Lama has nothing to do with Australia and China. Look at USA, Canada and many European countries, Dalai Lama visited them. lol Did China do anything to them? Come on, China can be big but Can't control the world. Julia, you are stupid. I want you to know, U LOOK FUCKING WEAK IN YOUR LEADERSHIP. SHAME ON YOU AND AUSTRALIANS.
I doubt this lady will change her mind. Even if she will (hopefully) listen and even pretend to show that behind her words, she is not that narrow minded, she perfectly knows where her interests lie.
If ever she was to change, that would affect the people who vote for her for they will feel betrayed, as well as changes in her carreer. I don't believe politicians would risk that - they cling too much to whatever power they have.
A politician who truly believes in the welfare of people needs to have a broader perspective on things, try to open people's mind and lead them to accept differences of lives and opinions. Not be self-righteous.
It would have been better to find friends of hers who are gay - I can't believe she hasn't got any, to do the talking to her. ^^
Anyway all the best and good luck to those couples.
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